UK must learn reconstruction lessons

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Britain must better coordinate its post-conflict military and reconstruction efforts, taking a "comprehensive approach" to reconstruction and counterinsurgency efforts, according to a defence select committee report.

The report calls for the UK to learn the lessons from complex operations in Afghanistan and the heavily criticised post-conflict situation in Iraq, and says many have had to be re-learned from Bosnia, Kosovo and even Malaya.

It recommends a "comprehensive approach" to reconstruction to help UK forces 'make a better peace' in conflict zones. The approach requires the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID) to coordinate military and reconstruction efforts from the "earliest stages", with the Prime Minister taking overall responsibility for the efforts.

"At the start of operations like these, the government should formally announce what government departments are to have what responsibilities," said James Arbuthnot MP, chairman of the defence select committee. "We would want to see leadership, clear objectives, a defined end state, strategy, tactics and details of the nature of civilian and military personnel required."

"Communication is a key component of the use of the comprehensive approach and any strategy must include plans for conveying the strategic intent of the mission to local nationals and also to the British public in an informative but fair and balanced way."

The committee said the recently formed Stabilisation Unit (owned by DFID, the FCO and the MoD) should maintain a capacity to deploy significant numbers of personnel for post-conflict reconstruction and to ensure that knowledge and skills gained in Iraq and Afghanistan are retained and built on.

The report also encourages government to find better ways to draw on the expertise of NGOs without compromising the effectiveness and safety of aid workers on the ground.

Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox welcomed the report, saying: "One of the greatest failures of the Labour government is its failure to plan for the aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein. But while we accept that lessons are being learned, the report highlights that more needs to be done in developing a truly comprehensive and coherent approach for Afghanistan.

"We need proper leadership across Whitehall," he said. "That is why the Conservatives will create a National Security Council to get Whitehall on a war footing."